I just bought myself a 2000 Camaro V6 Convertible and have the following problem which I haven't had a chance to look into further. The Reservoir Tank seems to be leaking, it looks like it only happens when the car has warmed up. Does anyone know what could be causing this? or where I should be looking to get this fixed. Second, I want to change both Transmission(automatic) & motor oil but dont know which one to use. The sticker that was on the car from the last service was over 6 months ago & it said they used 10-30 motor oil. what should I use, also for the radiator can I just use the 50/50 Prestone Antifreeze??



Thanks in advance

 

the tank is under the battery and are a common place for leakage. check places like gmpartsdirect, http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/results...umber=10219554 or rmsautoparts, http://www.rmsautoparts.com/proddeta...?prod=10402687 check hoses first. dont even think of changing motor or trans. big, big job and expensive. 5w30 is called for on these cars but 10w30 will work fine. whats the oil pressure?

 

I was thinking it was the reservoir tank but wasn't sure if it could be something else causing the leak. I see a little coolant under the battery & on the side. I will check the hoses & get under the car today & see if I can spot where the leak is coming from. what type of oil do you use for transmission? or do you not recommend changing??

Thanks for your quick reply

 

Craby, I think he's talking about changing motor oil and tranny oil, not the motor and tranny.

 

You can use 5W-30 or 10W-30 motor oil, alot of people like to use the full synthetic from royal purple, mobil 1, castrol. It usually comes down to preference.

As for the tranny, I think you need a drexton 3 or 4 fluid for that, craby will know for sure or your owners manual will tell you.

It's also good practice to change your tranny filter, although that requires more work and whatnot.

 

ohhh,,, changing oil and not motor or trans. lol. ok well yah i use synthetic in the motor and trans, mobil 1 on both. just make sure you use trans fluid thats compatible with whats in there. so long as its all the same your ok. agree you should change trans filter being the car is new to you its a good idea. its not hard to pull the coolant reservoir, pull the battery, coolant hoses from it and a couple bolts and its out.

 

thanks to both of you for your help.

 

I took the batter out and found out the small little pipe that goes into the reservoir tank & connects to the radiator hose was plugged up and bent. where can I get the bent pipe?

 

Junkyard. The reservoir is the same from 93 - 02 so the pipe probably is too. The pipe will be a bugger to get out though.
From what I've seen the coolant reservoir isn't a common leak location but the reservoir is replaced a lot. That's because the molded-in ridge at the front that grabs the battery often breaks off. I don't know if it's from battery clamp overtightening, vibration from loose clamping, or something else but the one in my 94 was broken when bought the car. In over a year of junkyarding I never found a good used reservoir. Every single one had the same problem so I gave up and bought a new one from GM. The dealer had a couple in stock so you *know* it's a common replacement item.

 

heres a couple places to look, it would be a good idea to stop by the local chevy shop and find the part number for it.
http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/catalog/frameset.cfm
http://www.rmsautoparts.com/
http://www.classicindustries.com/camaro/parts/
http://www.autopart.com/partsout/200...MARO/index.htm